There is no doubt that the Corona Virus pandemic has been difficult for everyone around the world. For those of us living alone, the ‘lockdown’ was particularly hard, but I survived it by not only doing lots of work on my house and garden, but also by going out for a daily walk.
Walking in the countryside has always been a pleasure for me. Somehow walking in our natural environment, soothes and centres me. A walk observing the wonderful natural world has been proven to have benefits for our mental health.
So, when I had completed all the jobs around my home, I looked around for another project. I had previously walked the Cotswold Way and Ridgeway and decided to attempt another long distance walk, and also to try and raise money for a charity.
I chose The Millennium Way, (100 miles) starting from Middleton Cheney , via Leamington Spa, up to Meriden. The walk then turns south west, and eventually ends at Pershore in Worcestershire. Sally McGurk , an old friend, was keen to come with me although suffering with Parkinson’s Disease , as exercise is paramount to keeping the illness at bay.
We decided to walk every Thursday and some Sundays, whatever the weather and to finish before winter set in. Both of us drove to the start of each walk, where we left one car. We then both travelled in the same car to the start, and after completing the walk we retrieved both cars. The website for the Millennium Way www.walking.41club.org was useful to plan our walks and we aimed to walk about 7 or 8 miles each time . The Millennium Way was set up in 2000 by the 41 club, which is for people who previously had belonged to The Round Table.
The charity I chose was ‘Happy at Home’, a local charity based in south Northamptonshire. This charity matches volunteer befrienders to an older person, to chat and share information, to enable people to live independently at home for longer. They set up a crowd funding page for us and I decided to write a blog after each walk, and to e-mail it to interested friends and acquaintances.
Epilogue
Sally and I thoroughly enjoyed walking the Millennium Way, and all the adventures we had on the way. This included a flat battery, loosing keys and being soaked through on at least 3 occasions. But we visited new places, enjoyed observing nature and discovered more of Britain. We also raised £1,115 for our designated charity!
Ruth Harris October 2020